The principal cause of failure of disc drives is handling damage, not operational failure (so-called disc crashes). Handling damage occurs as a result of bumping or dropping the disc drive or causing it to come in contact with a hard surface. Such handling damage is classified as disc slip, head slaps, or gross cosmetic damage. Handling damage may occur during freight transit, carton handling, actual product handling, and product-system integration.
Generally similar damage occurs in the case of other information-storage devices, such as tape drives and optical drives. Additional non-operational damage to disc drives and similar devices occurs as a result of electrostatic discharge, and it is typical to ship devices in an anti-static (static-shielded) bag (also known as an ESD bag) to prevent or reduce such damage.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,442, to Merrell et al., describes an article of manufacture and method for protecting information-storage devices from damage during shipping and handling. The article of manufacture described in the Merrell patent, and depicted in FIG. 1, is a container that is molded from a static-dissipative resilient plastic material that is ribbed to protect the information-storage device inside from physical shocks. When the information-storage device stored in the container is to be used, the container is opened and the information-storage device is removed for installation in a computer or other machine requiring information storage.
Another device, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,934 to Valavanis, is a shock-insulated container for storing a hard disc drive to be used in a coin-operated video game console. The Valavanis container is intended to be used during shipping, handling, and operation of the disc drive. In Valavanis, the hard disc drive is wrapped in a liner made of a foam material and the wrapped hard disc drive is enclosed in an enclosure made of an anti-static plastic. A connector ribbon extends from inside the enclosure to the outside of the enclosure to allow a connection with a video game console to be made. The Valavanis container is perforated so as to allow the container to be bolted to a video game console.
Recent developments in computer hardware technology pose additional challenges to preventing damage to information-storage devices due to physical shock. In recent years, the computer hardware industry has been moving more and more in the direction of making hardware devices “hot-swappable.” The term “hot-swappable” is used to describe hardware devices that may be removed or added to a computer system while the computer system is operating and without any loss of functionality. In particular, hot-swappable information-storage devices are now being used in computer systems and data storage systems, such as RAID arrays (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Discs—sometimes also referred to in the generic sense as Redundant Arrays of Independent Devices). Typically, a hot-swappable information-storage device will be adapted to slide into a recessed area, called a drivebay, and mount to electrical connections in the back of the drivebay space once fully inserted into the drivebay. Thus, hot-swappable information-storage devices, by their very nature, are subject to a considerable amount of handling, even after being placed into operation.
Containers designed for non-hot-swappable drives, such as in Merrell and Valavanis are not adapted to protect an information-storage device from the shocks associated with sliding the device in and out of a drivebay or the general wear and tear of multiple insertions and removals. A device stored in a Merrell-type container must be removed from the container before installation. A device stored in a Valavanis-type container need not be removed from the container, but since the Valavanis container was designed to be permanently bolted to a video-game console and connected to the video-game console hardware via a ribbon connector, the Valavanis container is clearly unsuitable for solving the problem of protecting a removable hot-swappable storage device. That is, once bolted to the video-game console hardware, the container and hard drive are not removable in a hot-swappable manner. To the contrary, the video-game console must be opened and considerable effort employed in removing the hard drive from the video-game console hardware.
A number of containers have been developed to assist in the prevention of handling-related damage in hot-swappable information-storage devices. These containers, however, tend to employ mechanisms with moving parts and are expensive to mass-produce for the consumer and small-business markets. Thus, there is a need for a simple, inexpensive solution to the problem of protecting a hot-swappable, or soft mounting, information storage device, e.g., a hard disc drive, from physical impacts. The present invention provides a solution to this and other problems, and offers other advantages over previous solutions.